Sunday, February 17, 2013

What a wondeful and productive day it has been! I started my day with some fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and decided I want to drink it every day! It is so yummy, refreshing, and healthy.

Then I made a smoothie for Chris and myself to enjoy while breakfast was cooking.

I used: blueberry juice, 2 whole bananas, some frozen strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, vanilla yogurt, and some honey. It was very sweet and my husband loved it :). I used to work at a smoothie shop so I dont really have measurements for these ingredients as I eyeball it most of the time, but I know that I use about 10 oz of juice if I am making enough for 2 people. If I want it to be thick I will use more frozen fruit and if I want it thin, I use a little less and put more fresh fruit in....its all up to you!

My husband made me a breakfast burrito (I ended up eating 2 of them!) Just some of his special scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon. Simple and filling!

Yesterday was our baby shower and we had a great time. We had around 40 guests and it was so much fun to see family and friends mingle. We were showered with so much generosity it was amazing! Little Harmony already has more clothes than her daddy does (which is pretty impressive, daddy has TONS of clothes :-P) I feel so grateful that our families are so excited for her arrival, it makes it all the more exciting for me.

We had a lot of cleaning and organizing to take care of in order to fit all of this new stuff so we worked on that while we cooked a pot roast. We got the recipe here and it turned out so good! We will definitely be making it again. We got a really nice dutch oven from Chris' parents for our wedding and it has been a lot of fun learning to use it and finding new recipes.

Now that the day is coming to an end I feel so accomplished and ready to relax! Only 3 weeks left of working and then I can really let my nesting instincts fly!!!

Friday, February 15, 2013

I am now almost 33 weeks pregnant and I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the ups and downs I have experienced so far.

Pregnancy has been the most intense experience I have ever been through in my life. It is not only physically tiring but emotionally as well. Of course, I knew going into this that it was going to be hard but I never knew/imagined it would be like this.
In the beginning, I was an emotional wreck. My hormones were uncontrollable and I was not the most pleasant person to be around. I was also extremely exhausted and was going to sleep every night at 7:30! The first ultrasound we went to where she actually looked like a tiny baby was so amazing. I couldn't stop myself from crying and getting emotional but, it still didn't really seem real to me. The first trimester was a blur and I went back and forth from being happy to actually second guessing our decision of having a child.
The second trimester was a lot different. I started to get my energy back and my hormones started to balance out a little more (thank heavens!). We found out we were having a little girl and then we were able to start calling her by her name: Harmony. That was about 14 weeks ago now but, it feels like eons ! Always talking about her, "When Harmony is here...." or "Harmony is going to love this..." etc.. the anticipation just grows and grows every day!
I started to notice that I was becoming more and more nurturing and maternal. When I started my journey I was just a 23 year old who fell in love and wanted to start a family but I still had the notion that I could party and hang with friends, still do what I wanted (to a certain extent!) As the months have gone by, I have given up most of my friends and all of my bad habits and I don't feel 23 anymore at all! At least, I don't relate to any 23 year old I know/knew.
My husband and I have grown so close that I couldn't imagine spending any time apart from him at all. He is now my best friend and the one I go to for ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. The bond that has grown between us because of Harmony is incomparable to anything I have ever felt with any man, or person for that matter. I now look at children in a different way and I look at myself in a different way. I want to be the best mom/wife/person I can be. I want to be a role model for my children and I want to be someone my husband can always turn to and count on. This personal growth is really amazing considering where I came from - self loathing and self destruction. I knew pregnancy would change my life but I didn't think I would truly become a woman over the course of just 8 months.
Now that I am in my third trimester and my pregnancy is coming to an end I feel I have come full circle. From going through periods of fear and uncertainty to being so excited and ready for this miracle, I feel SO grateful that I was given this opportunity to become who I was supposed to be. I feel lucky that my relationship with my husband has grown into what it has and that I have had him for support this entire time. I also feel anticipation and excitement to meet my little girl who I love so much already and to grow up even more and watch her grow as well.
I hear a lot of women say that they hate being pregnant, and I went through that same feeling for a while, but I just cant honestly say I feel that way when it has done so much for me! It hasn't been easy - it can be downright painful/uncomfortable most of the time - but I wouldn't feel so proud of myself if it were easy!

All mothers should love themselves for creating a miracle and being a serious ass kicker!!!